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by Bruce Maulden

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Happy Meal — NRA Style

October 24, 2013

High overcast this early Thursday on California’s north coast — we’re now so close to the weekend it’s not funny.

And what’s not funny is guns and kids, what’s up with that? This week has had a horrendous display of firearms and youngsters, and even school killings in general, and the trend seems to be here to stay because of…guns.

A couple of police guns in the news — in Santa Rosa, Calif., just north of San Francisco, cops killed a 13-year-old boy carrying fake guns, one a replica AK-47. ViaCNN:

Two Sonoma County deputies spotted the boy holding what appeared to be an assault rifle Tuesday afternoon, the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s office said. They pulled over “but maintained cover behind their open passenger door,” the press release said. They yelled at the teen to put the weapon down. He had his back to them and began turning around towards the officers, the statement said. “One of the deputies described that as the subject was turning toward him the barrel of the assault rifle was rising up and turning in his direction. The deputy feared for his safety, the safety of his partner, and the safety of the community members in the area,” the statement said. A deputy shot the teen. The teen was handcuffed, and the officers called for an ambulance, the statement said. Deputies found the fake rifle on the ground near the boy. The bogus handgun was tucked in his waistband.

And the resulting pain:

Family friend Gabriel Roque said she was outraged. “He’s was a 13-year-old boy who was no harm to anybody. This was not a grown man walking down the street with a gun,” she told the affiliate. “He was a 13-year-old little boy, you could just tell him to put it down.”

Apparently, he wasn’t fast enough. Maybe the deputies were nervous, considering the little 14-year-old boy who shot and killed a teacher and wounded two other kids at a middle school in Nevada on Monday — but these guys are supposed to be professionals.

Meanwhile, south and east of that location, three elementary-school students were injured when one of them apparently pulled the trigger of a real AR-15 rifle mounted on a cop motorcycle — police were at the school during a safety demonstration. From the LA Times:

The AR-15 assault rifle was mounted on the motorcycle that was on display during a drug prevention event, said Tamrin Olden, a spokeswoman for the Chino Police Department. “The rifle was … secured in the mount on the motorcycle during the incident,” Olden said at an evening news conference. “The child did approach the mounted rifle.” The students — whose ages were not immediately known — suffered minor injuries, Olden said. None were hit by gunfire. Two were likely struck by metal debris, resulting in “extremely minor injuries,” she said. She described the weapon as an AR-15 that was locked onto the bike. They were investigating how the weapon discharged and she said “there are several fail-safes in place” to prevent a discharge. They had not determined how the weapon was fired, she said.

What is wrong with the words, ‘the child did approach the mounted rifle‘ that screams: WTF! Do these weapons have to be lock-and-loaded 24/7?

Again, meanwhile, well north of that chaos, in Washington state. a 11-year-old brings an arsenal to school. He was ready for carnage:

A Washington state middle school boy was arrested Wednesday and faces an attempted murder charge, after he brought 400 rounds of ammunition, multiple knives and a handgun to his school, police said. The 11-year-old was booked into a juvenile detention facility after the incident that caused the lockdown of Frontier Middle School, Vancouver Police said. The school, in Vancouver, Washington, was locked down for about two hours. Parents received letters alerting them of the situation, said Kris Fay, a spokeswoman for the Evergreen School District. There were no injuries. Police did not say who was allegedly being targeted.

And a couple of asshole parents — guns just lying around waiting to be used:

A sheriff’s report says an officer and a Department of Social Services worker went to the home Oct. 15. The deputy reported dirty clothes and rotting garbage in the home. The officer found a 12-gauge shotgun and .22-caliber rifle, loaded and with the safety mechanisms off within reach of the children, ages 2 and 4. The deputy confiscated the guns. The children are in protective custody.

Or maybe a parent is fucking-crazy — a 3-year-old shoots himself with dad’s “loaded” pistol, but in the explanation from the parent, not priceless:

Police say the 3-year-old boy accidentally shot himself in the stomach, after the boy’s father left a loaded handgun lying on his bed. Just before 7 p.m. on Monday night, the boy’s father, Nate Steward, 34, said he returned home from the store with his 3-year-old son and 10-year-old daughter. As Steward walked into his home with his children, he told police the handgun he was carrying inside his pants started to fall down his leg. Steward says he got into his house quickly so the gun would not fall out of his pants. Once inside, he says he placed the loaded handgun on his bed in the bedroom while his kids were in the living room and kitchen. The father then went to the back door to let one of his dogs out. While outside with the dog, Steward told police he heard a gunshot inside the home. He went back in to find his 3-year-old son bleeding and holding his stomach. The boy fell to the floor and Steward picked him up and rushed him to Children’s Mercy Hospital in his own car.

No wonder. My underline for emphasis on someone needing to be fully-armed when going shopping with the kids.

And in Texas: A teenage babysitter was arrested Tuesday and charged in the death of a 5-year-old Texas boy who accidentally shot himself with the babysitter’s gun while she was napping, authorities said.

Well, that’s enough of that dangerous, horribly-depressing shit — what do the real men have to say about all this crap? The NRA (via Media Matters):

Edwards and Wheeler also falsely suggested that many teenagers between the ages of 15 and 19 were responsible for their own shootings because they believe these victims were involved in criminal activity. In fact, FBI and CDC statistics clearly indicate that the vast majority of individuals who are shot are victims of crime not criminals themselves. Addressing gunshot wounds for ages 15 to 19, Wheeler said that those injuries represent “a way different demographic than the concept of the innocent child that” the study “like[s] to project here.” Edwards claimed a “healthy percentage” of those teenagers shot were wounded because they themselves were committing a crime with a gun.

The NRA ought to be lunch-boxed and thrown in a landfill somewhere — a meal to make us happy.